Member Article

This week's North East appointments

Start your working week with a look at the latest appointments from across the region.

Alan Hanratty, Phusion

Phusion, the global information management specialist based in the Tees Valley, has appointed Alan Hanratty, an experienced international sales professional, as Business Development Director.

Alan, who previously headed up business development at Billingham-based Johnson Matthey subsidiary Tracerco, has worked in industry since 1981, including 13 years in senior sales positions. He holds a degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Sunderland University and began his career as a trainee chemical engineer at ICI Wilton.

Phusion has offices in the UK and Australia, and provides comprehensive Engineering Data Management solutions to asset intensive industries through Phusion Reactor, its suite of SaaS, content, hosting and support services. It has provided off-the-shelf and bespoke solutions to a wide range of global, industry-leading clients, including BP, Total, INPEX and China Petroleum Engineering Construction Corporation.

Phusion Executive Chairman Steve Pearson said: “We’re delighted that Alan has joined the Phusion team.He has a wide range of business development and commercial management experience and has worked extensively overseas, setting up channel partners in markets such as the Middle East, China, Japan, India and the USA. He also has a strong technical background which allows him to understand the challenges our clients face.”

Alan Hanratty said: “I’m excited to have joined Phusion, I hope to expand our already extensive, global list of clients. Energy and related industries have to become much more efficient to tackle the market’s increasing challenges and Phusion’s engineering data management solutions are already proving this can be done.”

Mark McCafferty, Northpoint

Chartered Accountant Mark McCafferty has joined Greg Whitehead and the team at Northpoint, a North East professional advisory firm providing turnaround, restructuring, insolvency and forensic accounting services.

With a turnaround focus and is not an insolvency practitioner, Mark works to provide solutions to distressed companies with a view to avoiding formal insolvency.

With his experience of investigating and analysing financial information, he has also developed a specialist role in forensic accounting, including providing reports and evidence in a litigation support role. Mark sits on several Boards as a Director.

Greg Whitehead commented: “Mark and I previously worked together at Deloitte before both going on our own. Our respective specialisms complement each other and now seemed the right time to provide them together through Northpoint.”

Harry Horrocks, Deloitte

Deloitte has strengthened its Transaction Services practice with the return to the North East of Harry Horrocks, following three years in India, and the promotion of Chris Wildsmith to partner.

Both Harry and Chris have been with Deloitte for their entire careers, with Harry’s 13 years spent predominantly in the North East and Chris’ career spanning 16 years based in Leeds.

Harry has spent the last nine years in TS, working on over 40 transactions and for the past three years has worked in Mumbai, India, building and developing Deloitte’s extended delivery team. Within the North East market, he will provide full coverage across all sectors, but has specialisms in manufacturing, healthcare and energy and resources.

Chris specialises in working with clients in the financial services sector and has spent 12 years in TS, focusing on due diligence for clients for the last five years and working on over 80 transactions.

Matt Henderson, Financial Advisory Transaction Services partner at Deloitte, said: “Harry’s return to the UK provides us with an opportunity to continue to provide outstanding client service in the North East M&A market, with Harry on the ground focusing on servicing local, entrepreneurial businesses, and is a commitment to the continued growth of the team in the North East.

“The promotion for Chris is a credit to his hard work and focus on client service and reflects the strength and eminence of our financial services team across both regions.”

James McMillan, BHP Law

A solicitor dedicated to helping people get their personal affairs in order has extended the long arm of the law to police officers in his new role with regional practice BHP Law.

James McMillan was keen to specialise in wills, trusts and probate, advising clients on setting up lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) and planning for what happens to their assets when they die.

Within his specialism and after growing up in a family of police officers, he has become an adviser to members of Durham Police Federation, advising them on how to plan for their futures, as well as for other private clients.

“Many people, police officers included, don’t have adequate provisions for wills or lasting powers of attorney in place and it is of great importance, particularly for serving officers and those in other potentially dangerous employment, to ensure plans are in place,” said James.

“There’s a misconception that LPAs are only for the elderly, but anyone can be involved in an accident or incident that could leave them incapacitated. In those circumstances, most of us would wish to have people we know and trust in charge of our affairs.”

Dale Barclay, Newcastle Building Society

The North East’s biggest building society has chosen Dale Barclay to lead the team at its new signature Gateshead branch.

Newcastle Building Society is set to open a modern new branch in Gateshead’s prestigious Trinity Square development which offers improved access to services and additional private meeting spaces for customers.

And it has now appointed Dale to manage the new Gateshead branch, which will open in mid-July, and to head up the seven-strong team that will be based there.

Dale, who is from Newcastle, has been with the Society for the last six years, working his way up from being a customer advisor into branch management positions.

Having first been an assistant manager at the Society’s Hood Street branch in Newcastle, Dale has since gone on to fulfil the manager’s role at its Durham, Consett and Low Fell branches before being selected to move across to Gateshead.

The new Gateshead branch is being opened as part of a £10m investment programme across the business, which is designed to improve the way that the Society delivers its service to customers through improvements to its branch network, telephone and digital offering, and operational infrastructure.

Dale Barclay says: “When the Gateshead branch manager position became available, I knew it was something I really wanted to take on, and being chosen for this role gives me a fantastic opportunity to shape how we develop our services in this great new location.

“Being in Trinity Square puts us right in the heart of Gateshead, and will make our services even easier to access for our customers, as well as giving us the chance to get even more closely involved with the local community.”

Grahame Kelly, Sweco UK

Engineering consultancy Sweco UK has appointed a new operations director to its Newcastle office to launch its building services division in the city and the wider Northern region.

Grahame Kelly joined the company in June this year and will develop a building services team in Newcastle to add to the existing services offered from the office. Working closely with Mike McDonagh, Sweco’s North West operations director, they will form Sweco North and work to raise the company’s profile in the North and help to develop the overall multi-disciplinary business.

Grahame is a qualified chartered building services engineer with over 30 years’ experience of the UK consulting and construction industry. He has extensive experience of multi-disciplinary consultancy, notably from his previous employments with White Young Green, WSP and Parsons Brinckerhoff, where he directed teams of building services engineers, civil and structural engineers, and architects.

Welcoming Grahame to the business, Geoffrey Palmer, director of building services at Sweco, said: “I worked with Grahame several years ago and his joining at operations director level allows us to continue our quality team growth in the north of England and help form a link between our specialist Water, Energy, Transportation, Environment and Landscape teams with the buildings market.

“This is an exciting time for Sweco as we start to build a truly multi-disciplinary offering across the country. Grahame’s knowledge and expertise enhances our existing services, and allows us to further diversify our offering and open the door to a wider range of client projects.”

Join us again next monday for more appointment news.